Restaurant chain under fire for staff underpayment

A franchised restaurant chain is facing a new round of legal action with allegations teenage and foreign workers have been underpaid by nearly $28,000.

The Fair Work Ombudsman issued a statement saying it began further legal action against Western Australian chain Han’s Cafe, alleging the underpayment affected a total of 22 employees at the Rockingham outlet.

The alleged underpayment covers a 12-month period between December 2014 and the same month in 2015, amounting to $27,920.

According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, this latest round of legal action comes just a month after the operator of the Han’s Cafe chain and two associated companies were forced to pay $37,500 in penalties for record keeping that was deemed so poor, the Fair Work Ombudsman was unable to determine the full extent of employee underpayments.

Han’s Cafe is accused of paying the affected employees below minimum rates for ordinary hours, weekends, public holidays and late night work, as well as on split-shift allowances. Additionally, the company is accused of contravening payslip laws.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s 2015-16 annual report shows the agency recovered more than $27.3 million in underpaid wages and entitlements for 11,158 workers, the bulk of which as a result of education and dispute resolution.

This was the result of just under 30,000 instances of alleged non-compliance.

Wage underpayment has been a high-profile issue for employers in recent months, with SMEs, franchises, household name brands and even MasterChef judge George Calombaris caught up in the quagmire.